Technology and the Modern Historian

In the computer age, technology has provided the modern academic with valuable new tools. For the historian, technology has proven a double-edged sword as the advent of the internet, search engines and online archives has made information more accessible than ever before. However, the ease of access to resources brought about by the computer age has meant that many traditional historical research methods have been abandoned. History students, especially at the undergrad level, often fall into the trap of taking the easy route utilizing resources most readily available neglecting resources that may take leg work to acquire. Rather than reading a hard copy of a piece of historical writing it is easier to find the online abstract and read book reviews. While book reviews and abstracts can be useful tools in preliminary research, relying on them for a foundation of a historical analysis is misplaced. Rather than interpreting secondary and primary materials for yourself it is very easy to simply regurgitate the ideas of others.
A common misconception associated with technology, especially in the discipline of history, is that technology is supposed to make the study of history “easier”. Nothing could be further from the truth. Technology is meant to provide the historian with further avenues of investigation, not provide shortcuts. Another under-utilized aspect of technology for the modern historian is the capability of communicating with colleagues around the world. The ability to network with historians in a particular field of study cannot be overemphasized. Technology has allowed for collaboration among historians as never before, sharing resources and ideas. Technology, with its minor shortcomings aside, is an invaluable tool for the modern historian as acquiring resources and the sharing of ideas has become more convenient with the advent of technology.